Wednesday, September 23, 2015

As Patrick Norris croons with a kind of wounded passion on the track The Dogs, the bass with a plodding cadence almost seems to be following behind, hiding in the shadows as a sad jangling guitar contain the rhythm amidst muted drums that subtlety explode from time to time. The whole torrid affair feels both emotionally sad and conflicted, some times lashing out and sometimes comatose. It saunters along like a slow dance but for one not two. It is as dark as it is sad and as sad as it is passionate. It is part of a two track cassette basically called Cassette #1. As an opening track it feels heavy warning that this band may dwell in those dour places.

The second track, Mine Forever, Mine Alone feels a little lighter (only a little) with sounds that show flourishes of hope in the melodies but it still has an awfully beautifully sad tone. Both tracks might feel less like songs than emotional soundtracks or soundscapes. Both would lend themselves perfectly to cinema to fortify some emotional scene. This is my first introduction to this talented duo (Patrick Norris: vocals, guitar and Chris Caulder: drums, bass, guitar, lap steel) who are based out of Philadelphia. I look forward to delving deeper into their music.

(review notes: When I first listened to the Dogs, I was feeling an Interpol vibe. I also thought of a darker sadder version of the Buttertones but then the more I listened the emotional edge didn't feel as stylistically "posed" as Paul Banks etc.)